Mine to Tell or Not
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day three hundred and eighteen:  Sylvesters extra  Quinn discovers a shocking secret regarding Brittany and Sue Sylvester.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 15th cycle. Now cycle 16!_

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**"Mine to Tell or Not"  
Quinn & Brittany  
Extra to the Sylvesters Series **

Quinn had seen Brittany's 'not another Spanish assignment' face more than once. When these were group or pair assignments she would usually offer herself up to partner with Brittany, get her panic down a bit. So when Mr. Schuester had told them to pair up, Quinn had given Brittany a quick nod and that was that. The assignment would take place in their next class, which time they were supposed to bring in a couple of childhood pictures to describe, as they had to discuss what they were like as children.

The next class came and, when they were told to, everyone moved into their pairs. Quinn had texted Brittany the night before, making sure she wouldn't forget her pictures; she remembered. Four pictures were laid out on the desk, two of each of the blondes, all tiny and smiling. They laughed for a beat, looking at those pictures that weren't their own, but then had to start. Quinn would usually go first, get her turn done so to focus on Brittany's. She described her pictures, then told her about what she used to be like. As Brittany's turn came, Quinn quietly encouraged her as she picked up the two pictures, to observe as Brittany described. For a while, she listened.

But she looked at the pictures, really looked at them. She started to feel a sort of twinge, recollection… She didn't know Brittany back then, she knew this, and yet… She'd seen that face before. Brittany brought her back to attention, but she still thought about it throughout the period and as they left.

In the days that had preceded the announcement of Cheerio captain the year before, curiosity had taken hold of Quinn, to the point where she was willing to tempt the fates and do something that could only be called insane: She was going to break into Coach Sylvester's office and check out her notes. She'd seen her with that little book; if Quinn could get her hands on it, there could be information with some value to her… what she was doing right, what she was doing wrong… then she could get captain for sure.

So that had been her plan, and in the end it would be successful only in that she'd gotten in and out without being caught in the act. Tried as she had to find the Coach's little notebook, it was nowhere she could think of. All she'd found were rosters, choreographies, paperwork, what appeared to be a manuscript, a framed picture of a small blonde girl squeezing a plush blue hippo…

Quinn stopped so suddenly that whoever was walking behind her had to move quick so not to bump into her. She paid no attention to it; her brain was spinning. That was where those pictures had been familiar from. That was Brittany, Coach Sylvester had a picture of Brittany as a child hidden in her drawer, why would she… It wasn't what she thought, it couldn't be…

But then information started stacking up in her head… Things she knew and didn't know about Sue Sylvester, same with Brittany. As much as she told herself it couldn't be, it was scary how much it made sense… she could barely put the words 'Brittany is Coach Sylvester's daughter' together without it sounding like someone was trying to pull a joke. She had to know. There was no way she could ask the Coach, and not just because that would require that she reveal how she knew about the picture in her office. If she asked Brittany though, Quinn was sure she wouldn't even need to bring it up.

She had to get her alone, didn't want to have others hear them, just in case. Remembering her concerns over an upcoming Spanish test, the idea then came: offer a one-on-one review session. Brittany took up the offer immediately, and the meet was set for the next day, after Glee Club.

The whole of the next day, she could barely hold it together, she wanted to just get it out there, know for sure. Maybe by some unforeseeable miracle it would turn out that she'd gotten it all very wrong and those two shared not a single blood tie. That didn't seem possible in her mind now, which said a lot considering she would have said the opposite just one day before.

At that point she was just waiting for a chance to observe them in the same room, interacting, but it didn't come. Instead the day carried on, until finally Glee practice was over and it was time for her Spanish review with Brittany. Quinn had told her to bring the pictures again, to help them in starting the class exercise again – so she said.

Sitting across from her, Quinn looked to Brittany, wondering still how that girl could share DNA with Sue Sylvester; they were nothing alike… Brittany had no sneer, no bite… It was not unlike her own concerns about what Puck's… skirt chasing ways would do to their baby girl… Maybe she was just really like her father?

"Did I say it wrong?" Quinn was snapped out of thought and she looked back up to Brittany.

"N-no… No," she spoke though she hadn't really heard her. "Hey, can I ask… about your mother?" She saw her blink, but then she just shrugged. "What does she do for a living?" Brittany just looked at her blankly for a while; she didn't know how to respond. Somehow in all this time, she had never come up with a steady lie to give. The longer that silence went, the more Quinn was convinced, the more she felt ready to flat out ask her. "I think… she coaches cheerleading, right here at McKinley…" Brittany's eyes flickered down to her notebook, but her posture shifted just a bit. "It's a secret, right?" Quinn tried to get her to listen. "I won't tell. I've had my share of secrets, I know how it feels. You can trust me." Brittany looked back, looking like she wanted to say it, but had lived so long in not telling anyone that the idea of not telling anyone that the idea of it seemed dangerous. "There's no rush, okay? But if you want to talk..." Quinn nodded, resettling in her seat and looking to her Spanish book.

"It's true…" Brittany spoke a moment later. Quinn looked up, momentarily frozen in surprise, as she had been when the thought had taken shape in her mind… So there it was. Even though they were alone, she leaned in to whisper, on reflex. Brittany leaned in to listen.

"I just… Wow… But why does it have to be secret, I don't understand…" she shook her head, and Brittany shrugged.

"She never really explained it to me; that's just how it's been. But I don't mind… not really," she went on shrugging. Quinn didn't know what to say, considering what Brittany had just said. Was the Coach ashamed or something? It was hard to imagine her as a mother, so this made all much too much sense as a possibility. No, there had to be a better reason.

"Does anyone else know?" Again Brittany's face slipped into that of secret keeper.

"No," she shook her head, sending her ponytail swinging left and right.

"So, Santana," Quinn nodded, eyebrow up.

"Yep," Brittany quickly admitted. Quinn sat back up. "You won't tell, right? Then she'll know I said it and she might… make me change schools…" she looked set to panic. Quinn shook her head, reassuring.

"Won't say a word," she smiled, and Brittany returned it, breathing out; it was one less weight.

THE END

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**_[A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, story alert won't get you anything! ;)]_**


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